Black, Hispanic Parents Urged To Support Education

A multimillion-dollar national media campaign will try to enlist
more African-American and Hispanic parents in a grassroots effort to
improve their children's classroom success.

The campaign, which began this month, involves a high-powered
coalition including the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People, the People for the American Way Foundation, the Eastman
Kodak Co., and the Advertising Council. The group, which notes that
minority students often earn lower test scores than their white
classmates, wants to empower African-American and Hispanic parents with
the know-how to exert a positive effect on their children's
education.

"Success in Schools Equals Success in Life," as the three-year
campaign is called, will feature public-service advertisements on
television and radio, along with ads in print and on billboards,
kiosks, and at mass-transit facilities. Advertisements will appear in
both English and Spanish.

For More Info

A Web site, www.SchoolSuccessInfo.org, has
been launched to support the "Success in Schools" effort and provide
parents with tips on how to become partners in their children's
schooling. Parents can also call a toll-free number for more
information: (800) 281-1313. A free booklet detailing advice for
parents is available as well.

Calling education "the number-one issue facing our country," Kweisi
Mfume, the president and chief executive officer of the NAACP, said
parents need help in managing their time better.

Changing Families

During a news conference at the National Press Club here last month,
he said the campaign would recognize that the nation has far fewer
"Ozzie and Harriet families" than it once did, and would use
traditional and nontraditional approaches to urge black and Hispanic
parents to work alongside their children.

The coalition will hold parent workshops and back-to-school rallies
nationwide. In addition, the NAACP will name parent-education liaisons
in about 100 cities to give parents guidance and information about
their children's schools.

Daniel A. Carp, the chairman and CEO of Eastman Kodak, said the
United States must take advantage of its racial and ethnic diversity
from the classroom to the boardroom. Leaving a segment of the
population behind would be "relegating ourselves to second place," he
added.

The Advertising Council hopes to make this new campaign as
successful and long-running as the 30-year-old United Negro College
Fund effort, which has raised $1.8 billion in scholarships for students
to attend historically black colleges and universities, said Peggy
Conlon, the president and CEO of the council.

Vol. 21, Issue 1, Page 3

Published in Print: September 5, 2001, as Black, Hispanic Parents Urged To Support Education

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